Retailers, wholesalers, and other product distributors (which may collectively be referred to as distributors) typically maintain an inventory of various items that may be ordered by clients or customers. Distributors may store, (e.g., in a materials handling facility) multiple, different product items together in a single inventory location of an inventory area, such as a shelf, rack, bin, or drawer. For example, a facility may store items such as books, CDs, DVDs, electronic devices, clothing, toys, hardware, materials, and/or other items together in various combinations within each inventory location.
Various operations may be performed in a distribution facility. For example, operations such as receiving, stowing, picking, sorting packing and shipping may be performed at the facility. At some facilities various systems and processes may be relied upon in performance of the operations.
Some materials handling facilities may use paper-based lists or handheld devices as part of systems that direct agents to areas where operations within the materials handling facility are to be performed. The systems may rely upon alpha-numeric identifications for the locations and the agents may need to visually scan an area of locations (e.g., inventory locations) to locate the place where the operation is to be performed. The cognitive load placed on the agent while locating the place to perform the operation may depend upon characteristics of the type of operation to be performed (e.g., finding a narrow DVD case among many DVDs may take longer than randomly stowing a basketball among different types of items). Additionally, the physical layout of the materials handling facility may contribute to additional cognitive load being placed on an agent. For example, in a warehouse or distribution center with aisles between shelves of inventory, the agent may have to determine whether the location is on the left or the right side of the aisle or comprehend how the shelves are identified to find the location where the operation is to be performed.
While embodiments are described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments are not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.